Episode 1 – Julianne Costigan

March 21, 2023, 5:00PM

57m 45s

McMartin, Chris   0:03
Be recorded for the Scotiabank Women Initiative. Master class. So this is being recorded. Just so everyone knows and we will be using the audio in the future and the video recording will not be used. So just wanna make sure everyone is aware of that even though we did have that in your registration.

McMartin, Chris   0:24
Alright, so with that, just some housekeeping items again, just a reminder if everyone could please put themselves on mute so that we don't have any background noise that would be fantastic.

McMartin, Chris   0:41
And we're gonna kick it off. So we're gonna start by letting me on behalf of the scare Spank women initiative introducing you virtually to Julianne Costigan. From portraits with impact. Julianne, welcome. And thank you for joining us today.

Julianne (Guest)   0:56
Thank you for having me. I'm. I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you.

McMartin, Chris   1:01
So Julianne will start because I think you can introduce yourself better than I can. So maybe you can give us a little intro, a little introduction as to who you are.

Julianne (Guest)   1:10
Yes, absolutely. And so my name is Julianne Costigan, and I am the lead stylist and CEO of Julianne Costigan, executive styling firm.

Julianne (Guest)   1:20
And at our firm, we believe that great style leads to confidence and confidence leads to success and that's really the mission of our company and we work with women predominantly and sometimes the husbands of our of our female clients and but we we work with them in a number of different ways.

Julianne (Guest)   1:43
Through our one-on-one services through digital products that we offer for those who can't maybe meet with us in person and then we do events like like this, we do speaking engagements, we work with corporate clients and we also run an event called portraits with impact which you already mentioned which is a headshot event. That's really about empowering women through an incredible headshot and helping women understand the importance topic.

Julianne (Guest)   2:14
Of having a great one, and we mostly work with executive women and and CEO's who understand that their style and having a personal brand is detrimental to their personal and professional success.

McMartin, Chris   2:28
I love that and I, you know, uh, because we've been working together for a little bit now and every time I say, you know portraits with impact and then I go on to say ohh they do and then I always hesitate because I always feel like headshots is so far from everything that you do for the women that you work with. And so you've gotta come up with your own little term. That's like, you know something that describes cuz you just do so much more. I feel like it's this tiny little piece of everything you do.

McMartin, Chris   2:59
With the women that you're working with them, the men that you're working with and and and so I always catch myself hesitating when I'm describing it and I go to say headshot and like that's not it though, so.

Julianne (Guest)   3:09
Well.
No, and I think that's a great point. When we were coming up with the name of the event, we, you know, headshot just didn't feel like it did it justice. Because to me, when I think about the power of a head shot, it's really more of a portrait that feels like an elevated word. And so that's why portraits with impact became the brand name and the way we described the event because it really it ends up being so much more than just an image that, you know, lives on teams or, you know, on your LinkedIn, it ends up being this.

Julianne (Guest)   3:41
This image that dictates and and helps people understand who you are, what you bring to the table and all that you offer.

Julianne (Guest)   3:50
Umm. And that's a really important part, I think of any person growing their business to to really take pride and to have an incredible portrait of themselves that can speak with them when they can't maybe speak for themselves.

McMartin, Chris   4:04
Absolutely. That's a much better descriptor. I'm gonna use that next time.

McMartin, Chris   4:11
So Giuliana, I'm gonna dive right in because we've received in, in sending out this invitation to all of our clients. We received such powerful questions, some really impactful statements. Everyone's really excited to hear what you have to say today. So I'm gonna dive right in to the questions that we've gotten and some questions that are coming in from our clients. So let's get started. So let's start. I love this question. So let's start with this.

McMartin, Chris   4:38
What advice would you give to young women who are starting off branding in the marketplace? Like, what's that first thing that they need to pay attention to?

Julianne (Guest)   4:48
You know what? I I when I was starting my business, I went to a conference for women and someone got on stage and they said.
Lady is the best thing you can do for yourself is go and get a great headshot and I took that advice and I did that and that was the first step I took in really launching my business and believing in myself and selling myself. And so I really think that's an important part and a first step because now in a digital world, that's often how we show up, whether it's on Instagram, LinkedIn, on the image that we put on teams and we don't turn our video on

Julianne (Guest)   5:34
I I think a headshot is really, really important. As a first step in in building out your personal brand and that's really why portraits with impact actually came to us and and why we we started it because a lot of our clients were saying, OK, I'm launching a business or I'm I'm changing rules, I want to change roles and and I'm feeling held back like why can't I, why can't I do that or why am I not putting myself out there? And often it comes down to not feeling like you have.

Julianne (Guest)   6:05
An image that you're that you think is a great representation of all that you're capable of, and especially as women, I think that we're not going to do anything until things are perfect and so.

Julianne (Guest)   6:18
You can it's possible to curate an image that kind of gives off that sense of perfection, or at least helps you feel like you can control what that brand is. So I think #1 for me is is absolutely, you know, making sure that your image is taken care of. And I guess what that also comes down to is not just, you know, a portrait, but what I do with my clients, which is making sure that every day you're showing up.

Julianne (Guest)   6:48
Being your own visual business card, so when you step into a room, not only do you look the part, but you feel the part. And I think women.

Julianne (Guest)   6:57
Understand that when they hopefully most women understand the power of a great outfit on a bad day, and that's really how I built my business is.

Julianne (Guest)   7:08
Umm, helping women leverage what clothing can do for you and help you feel in those moments where you really need to feel confident.

McMartin, Chris   7:18
I love that. And it's funny. As soon as you and I joined the call today, you commented on my red lipstick.

McMartin, Chris   7:26
And this morning was a rough morning in my household, and that is the reason for the red lipstick. So I love that. That's exactly it is that we need to find those things, whether it's an outfit, whether it's the doing, your hair, doing your makeup, putting on the red lipstick, whatever it might be. But you know, finding that what makes you feel that empowerment, that confidence that, you know, drive that you need to get through that day, that meeting, that whatever it might be, that pitch, that it really makes a difference.

Julianne (Guest)   7:58
Yeah, one and I I started.
Umm, at a young age in a boutique that's sort of where I got my first education and in fashion and working with real women. And it was there that I met so many women who would come in the day before a meeting and say I need to go out, that I, I've got this, you know, meeting or I have something going on and I don't know what to wear and they turn to their clothes to feel confident. But at the same time they didn't know how to use their clothes to feel confident they came into this boutique to rely on the sales associates like myself.

Julianne (Guest)   8:32
Who knew how to manipulate clothing and to use it, and and clothing is something I've always had a relationship with, and I've used it as a tool in my everyday life since I was young to feel confident. And that's what women. That's how I sort of discovered that this there's a huge opportunity to help every woman, not just celebrities, not just people you see on TV. I actually think, you know, the majority of women, they need the help. And and it's really important to be able to have access to that.
Unfortunately, in a digital world, I think now there's more education than there ever was before. But you know, we can't forget that we get dressed every single day and imagine if you felt great every day in your outfit. How much more confident you would feel both as a, you know, professional but also when your personal life.

McMartin, Chris   9:25
Absolutely. Absolutely. Can you talk a little bit about? So I I agree with you the importance of brand and obviously wearing the lipstick, I I agree that it's so important to do those little things, but like.

McMartin, Chris   9:38
How do you get started? Right. Like it's great to be like, OK, I want my outfits to make me feel amazing. And and I agree with the entire philosophy. But I think sometimes it's an overwhelming thought. Right. Like, so how do I go from today where I'm not loving my brand or my look or my my style or.

McMartin, Chris   9:58
And and I.
This starts. Do I have to go?
Start.
And and how we can do it realistically?

Julianne (Guest)   10:10
Absolutely. So what we do with our clients that we work with one-on-one or even virtually is it all comes you know we go into their closet and we help them, we go we we have them talk about their clothes. So we can learn. So I think I encourage every woman to go into their closet and what are the pieces that you turned to that do make you feel great? What what fabrications are they made of? What silhouettes are they. We also use Pinterest as a really incredible tool.
Because we can all sort of see imagery and pin what we like and what we're attracted to. And I really encourage clients not to overthink this, just go on Pinterest, type in something St. style or you know whatever it wherever you were could be corporate could be in tech you know type those things in and see what images come up and start pinning. And when you look at all the images that you've pinned, there's likely a common denominator in all of those images and it could be that there's a lot of leather.

Julianne (Guest)   11:11
What does leather say? Ohl leather might say that you know I wear leather when I wanna feel edgy. I wanna feel bold. Or, you know, if there's a lot of color blocking that might be that you have a bold personality. And so I think, you know, when you're trying to define your style, you can really look at clothes in a more holistic way. And that's how you can discover.

Julianne (Guest)   11:33
What your style is, because it feels like such a broad question, but I think you have to look at clothes deeper than just pieces of fabric. What is it that those pieces of, you know those silhouettes say about someone? And if you look at some of the people, maybe in your own office who you admire and they come great style.
Question. You know, they look really put together. What does that say about them?
There you'd likely believe that they're very organized and and like so you can sort of like.

Julianne (Guest)   12:07
Pinpoint different qualities or different assumptions you're making about someone because of what they're wearing, and I think that's how you can really trying to define your style. So we use Pinterest a lot. We love that tool. But you know, even if that feels overwhelming, you're like too much work. A product that we created, which can be very helpful. And it's a great way to get a taste of what we do with our clients. one-on-one is digital style guide and this is a resource that we created.
Because women were coming to us asking this question and wanting our advice, and we couldn't help all of them. So it includes everything from mood boards to.
I'm.
We curate a list of 20 items, 20 to 30 items that when we can shop, we put all those outfits together. We do beauty and hair recommendations and once it does is it gives women the tools to see sort of how we work with our clients. And what's interesting is that people, when they see this and they use, everyone uses it in a different way. So some women look at it and love it because they're getting the recommendations of what pieces they can put into their wardrobe. And then other times women say, I love the outfits because I actually own.
The majority of the pieces in the shopping list, but I've never known how to put it together and that's one of the biggest things that we find with our clients is that often women don't need to shop, they just need advice on how to wear their things in new ways that feel exciting and feel more like that. And so there's lots of these types of guides that are available and actually we are going to be giving everyone attending here a copy of of a guy. So you'll get a taste of that and see. But, but that's a tool that can really help you also define your style and feel.
Re energized. And I think that's what a lot of us need is to just feel real, real or excited about what what to put on our bodies because it.
You know, it's just overwhelming to look at a closet sometimes. And and I recognize that. And I feel that too sometimes so.
So yeah, that's that's how I.

McMartin, Chris   14:12
I absolutely and how many of us have have gone and and purchased a piece that we saw and were like ohh I just love this. I love it. It makes me feel good. It's amazing. And then we find that we've never worn it cause we have no idea what to wear it when we bought one piece of an entire outfit and we love it. But how and where and with what. And so I I love that you're not just about. Ohh yeah you have to go get all new stuff but like let's teach you how to actually feel good in all the things that you have.

Julianne (Guest)   14:43
Yeah. And I think less is more right, we make so many decisions in our life, I think and that's one of the things that I read so much about, successful entrepreneurs or business owners is that they, when they feel like they're.

McMartin, Chris   14:43
I love that.

Julianne (Guest)   15:01
Being most successful, they've eliminated a lot of unnecessary decisions in their life, and that's really what we help clients do. And so if you can establish what your style is, create some form of a uniform so that you have direction when you enter your closet. Those are also those are all helpful things to, you know, make getting dressed in the morning more joyful and and more empowering.

McMartin, Chris   15:26
Yes. Anything we can do to take a little bit of the stress away is always helpful, always helpful. So let's talk a bit about most of our our clients that are with us today are a lot of them are entrepreneurs and and so they're they're running their own businesses, which on top of everything else is is a whole other level of busy and and so can you talk to us a little bit about how your personal style or having this feeling of being confident and empowered in your style relates?

Julianne (Guest)   15:30
Yes.

McMartin, Chris   15:56
To your business and your business brand.

Julianne (Guest)   16:00
Yes, I I mean what I love about.
What I do is I get to work with so many different entrepreneurs and everyone uses their clothes, clothes differently and I think like I already mentioned, you know what you wear and how you show up for your clients and publicly on Instagram is sort of your visual business card and you can either you know command immediate trust or you can allow people to question your expertise and your experience because you're not taking.
Pride or understanding that people do judge a book by its cover, and so you can control that with how you show up. And I think, you know, we can't forget that the clothes that we wear.
Make us feel a certain way, and so not only is it a visual of what they you know what you look like, but it's, you know, when you feel confident you would your shoulders back and you present things differently. So your wardrobe is is very, very, very important.
And I I feel like I just went off off queue. So remind me of what the question is back that I have.

McMartin, Chris   17:16
No, no, no. You and you did and you didn't. I I think you're giving great advice, but really it's just the connection between our personal brand and and being entrepreneurs and your business brand, right.

Julianne (Guest)   17:27
Yeah. OK. So so something I wanted to know. It was a client we have that actually came to us and and they said.
I am a very.
Umm, aggressive person. I'm like I'm aggressive, but I recognize that.
When I am a little bit more soft and approachable, I have more success with my clients and can you help me with this? So what we did is we went through their closet and we recognize that a lot of what was in their closet was very stiff. It was structured, it was. It was things that you could easily relate to.

Julianne (Guest)   18:06
Umm, why they were acting a certain way. And So what we did is we basically took away all those types of things, but them in a separate closet when we shopped with them, we bought pieces that were a little bit softer. So maybe they still needed to wear a blazer. But instead of doing something that was really structured and tailored, we did a little bit more of a relaxed blazer. We leaned into fabrics like cotton and linen and things like that and that really helped them.

Julianne (Guest)   18:34
Umm.
Show up as they want to in their business and and it really helped them sort of become and live their their brand of their business. So I think that's something that you can also look at too and something that I think as a styling firm how we differentiate ourselves from a lot of other stylists is that we do look at clothes as a more holistic you know type of experience and and it's important to not forget that those items can really.
Change how you perform and how people see you in your business and and like I said before, we wear clothes every day, so it's really important to take your clothes seriously. I think that there are, you know, a really important tool and how and how you show up and and and how you behave and how you command. You know, you know your rates and your services it's it's very important and how you how you get trust from your clients.

McMartin, Chris   19:34
I love that and I I love that you're giving us real life examples and in in that sense, can you give us your own example? What it what is your style and how did you develop it and and how does it kind of align with your business?

Julianne (Guest)   19:49
Yeah. So my personal style and my I I have, I I talk a lot about it uniform, I think every person needs to have a uniform in their wardrobe, which is something that they can turn to on those stressful mornings. They don't need to think about that always works for them. And that's how I would define my personal style and it it is generally great pair of denim, some sort of white shirt whether it's white blouse AT shirt and then a great blazer and that those silhouettes in those colors can change but that sort of.
The uniform and for me.
What that says about me is.
You know I'm. I'm a business woman, but I, you know, I'm. I work with with real women and and I need to be comfortable and I'm and I'm you know I need I think comfort and style are really important to me and that's sort of what I dictate to all my clients and we always teach people that you know your wardrobe should work from work to weekend and we all live very busy lives and so versatility is very important and so the majority of clients we work with crave that versatility in their wardrobe and so.
I need to be a reflection of that too, and So what I find is that my uniform is comfortable. I feel stylish in it. I can wear a pair of heels or a pair of sneakers or flat and that sort of my personal style. And that's really what I preached in my own business. Having said that, I'm not wearing any of those pieces today because I am pregnant and I am my. I feel that as women are are style sort of evolves as we take on new roles.
And our lives change. So although I have a uniform and I turn to it on days when I really need it, sometimes they wear something else and that's OK too. For me, color is really important. And so that's what I felt I needed. Like you needed your red lipstick today. I needed color.
And and so I'm wearing this dress. I wore it on city line last week and felt amazing in it. So I thought, you know what I'm gonna wear?

Julianne (Guest)   21:56
I'm gonna wear it today and it has sort of all the things that make me feel best right now with this new body I have for a period of time. And so that's sort of my personal style. But what I love is that.

Julianne (Guest)   22:12
It's going to continue to evolve and I don't feel.
Are stuck in my uniform and I'm happy for it to change as seasons change and as my business changes.
But what I love is that I know I can always turn to jeans, shirt, and a blazer on any given day and feel really, really incredible in it.

McMartin, Chris   22:34
I love that enough. I love that you shared with us what your uniform is and how everyone's can be unique. Is there one particular piece and maybe like you said, a blazer has many different, you know, styles. But is there one particular piece that you would say every woman should make sure they have?

Julianne (Guest)   22:53
Yes, I think it's a blazer. I really think that a blazer is a timeless piece. I think you can go anywhere in a blazer and always feel confident and look professional.
Not that you need to look professional all the time, but as entrepreneurs they find, depending on your industry, you can bump into clients or or potential clients anywhere, whether it's on, you know, nine to five or on the weekend. And I find that a blazer just always feels appropriate. And what's so great about Blazers these days is that they've really come a long way.

Julianne (Guest)   23:27
Blazers used to be, you know, uncomfortable and stiff and boring and only black. But now you can get them at all different price points and all different styles to suit your body type and to suit your industry. So you know, there's Blazers that are tailored and double breasted and and really fitted. And that can be great for one person, but you can also get a relaxed.

Julianne (Guest)   23:54
You know.
Blazer that has mismatched buttons and that you can wear with a T-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans.

Julianne (Guest)   24:03
But if you you know that can also still look really put together and and Polish. And I think what.
I love a better Blazers that it has history, right? And and typically a blazer is worn by professionals, men and women and people associate certain qualities with the blazer. So regardless of the shape of that blazer or the color, I think you're trusted almost immediately in a blazer. And that's what I love about it and why I think it's a really important piece for any person to have in their wardrobe.

McMartin, Chris   24:37
Perfect. Thank you for sharing that. I love that is someone who so when I started my professional career, obviously blazer top of the list, right, you're working in a bank top of the list. So I am also a very large woman in the sense that I'm like 6 feet tall and I'm so it was hard. It wasn't. It wasn't easy to go find a blazer. That was a women's blazer that would fit properly. You know, the arms are always too short. The shoulders are always too tight. It gave me that whole stiff, uncomfortable. And now I'm not even talking like myself anymore.

Julianne (Guest)   25:11
Yes.

McMartin, Chris   25:12
And and so it really it's true now it's so easy to find a blazer that's, you know, relaxed or still structured or colorful or black or patterns or long or short or and. And really it's it's a staple piece that you can get in your style.

Julianne (Guest)   25:28
And at every price point.

McMartin, Chris   25:31
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely yes. I love that. I love that. So the next question we have is a little bit more specific. So we have an individual who is asked about wanting to look younger in their headshots or their portraits. So do you have any tips and tricks for any of us or all of us?

Julianne (Guest)   25:40
OK.
Mm-hmm.

McMartin, Chris   25:53
That will help us to look younger when we're getting our portrait or our headshots done.

Julianne (Guest)   25:59
So this is an interesting one and something that comes up, I think often in my experience, day-to-day with women, I think we're taught from a young age to always want to look young, but there's been a shift lately in.
I think a lot of industries about really embracing who you are and recognizing that all your experience, which might be your age, is actually something to embrace. And it's something that differentiates you.
As a person in the industry and it's and it's really how you can brand yourself is that your age, got you experience and that's why you are who you are now. And I think that's a really important thing to actually embrace and that's not to say that I I think what's great right now is that also the image of.
Someone at 50 or 60 or 70 has totally changed from what it looked like 20 years ago. I remember seeing something on Instagram and it was like a movie from.
The late 90s of of two parents, a movie we would all know when they're 40 and they looked.
70 Now, and so I think we have to just you know.
I I think it's important to not want to look necessarily younger, but to feel modern and current and to recognize when you feel what pieces you you feel good in and what when you feel young, what does that, what are those pieces and how you know, what are they saying about you? I think during the portrait experience something that we recognized there our own event called portraits with impact is that in order for women to feel really good in front of the camera and to love their image.

Julianne (Guest)   27:51
They need they need to feel good. They can't. Just someone can't just say smile and and then you have a great image. It often takes a lot more for us. And if you think about like your wedding day for example, there's a whole morning of build up. So when you're, you know, going down the aisle and taking photos, it's been like a morning of feeling incredible. And so we've actually had a lot of women compare this portraits with impact experience to their wedding day because they get pampered for hours beforehand. So what I think is if you want to feel great.
In front of the camera, and if that means feeling younger to you.
Umm, you know, make sure that you spend the time to figure out who your team is that you know if you, if you if possible get your nails done, get your hair and makeup done. But make sure that they're making you look like you don't show them an image of something that doesn't look like you or hair you've never worn before. I think it's really important to look like the best version of yourself and I think I've seen enough women go through portraits with impact and what the goal is always is.
How can I look like the best version of myself?
And that often is hiring the right professionals, who are also, as they're doing your hair and makeup and styling you, we're building you up for helping you feel like you're good enough. You're being unapologetically yourself, and that all your experience, and you know.

Julianne (Guest)   29:20
It it all is what makes you who you are. And to me, that's what young is, is just, you know.

Julianne (Guest)   29:29
Not being worried about all those things that we're taught to worry about.

Julianne (Guest)   29:34
Umm, so it's maybe like a bit of a long answer to the question, but at the end of the day I I think.
Have a great team. Spend the time and energy.
You know, in making sure you're wearing an outfit that you love and that looks like you.
Don't do any crazy hair or makeup. Do stuff that just do like a more polished version of of what you would do on an everyday basis, and then when you show up in front of the camera, it will be effortless and you'll look at that image and what you'll remember is how you felt in that moment where you taking that image and that image will feel youthful and young and happy and all of those things that we I think crave regardless of what age we are. And then that image will probably live on for.
Quite a long time because you felt so great during the time that you got that you had it done.
So.

McMartin, Chris   30:31
I love that and I love how you change the mindset. I I mean, how many of us have looked at images of ourselves? Ohl, I wish I looked younger, thinner, bigger or smaller. Shorter. Taller what? Whatever it is. Right? And. And so I love the mindset instead of younger. Like we just wanna feel current.

Julianne (Guest)   30:44
Yeah.
Yes.

McMartin, Chris   30:51
And and modern and and not necessarily younger but but current so. So thank you for that. I think that's an important shift in mindset and I and I do think that that all of us could use to have that mindset. And so I I think that what you're saying is is so true is that if we're feeling it, if we're feeling great, if we're feeling empowered, if we're feeling, you know, unstoppable, that's how it's going to appear, right.

Julianne (Guest)   30:55
Yeah.
Yeah.

Julianne (Guest)   31:18
Yes, and and funny enough, like when we're in women's closets, often what we we hear is women can give you a laundry list of things they don't like about themselves. But if you ask them what they do like about themselves, it's it's often a challenging question for them to answer. But what we do is we help women.
Stop seeing what it is that they don't like about themselves and seeing what it is that they do love about themselves. And when you change that mindset, you could be wearing the same outfit, but because you put it on and you said ohh I I like this because it highlights, you know, my my curves and and my waistline versus.
I don't like this because all I see are my thighs just having that that mindset in how you put on the clothes and why you chose something can completely change how they feel and something. So eliminating that negative talk, you know, confidence is a muscle and.

Julianne (Guest)   32:17
You have to work it to make it stronger, and the only way to work that to make it stronger to feel confident is to have better self talk with yourself every single day and to surround yourself with people who help you see what your best assets are and recognize any.
You know, thing that you might feel not confident about as you're as you're.
Differentiator the thing that makes you who you are and and to like embrace who you are and be unapologetically yourself. So I think you know confidence is a total mindset whether you're in front of the camera or in front of your clients, it's a really important.
Part of feeling great and being successful.

McMartin, Chris   33:04
I would agree, and I think that has a lot to do with building up your personal and your business. Brand is having that confidence, do you, do you have any tips or tricks onto working on that, anything that you've done or that you've done with your clients that you could share that if we're trying to work on building that confidence in order to to feel better and build our brands that that you could share with us?

Julianne (Guest)   33:27
I mean, for my own personal confidence, something I've always done and felt has been really important to my my success. That has led into you know, business as well has been surrounding myself with cheerleaders. I really find that when I have women build me up and tell me that, you know, whatever I want to do is possible. I feel like I can do it. But the moment someone kind of challenges me and tells me that I'm crazy or you know what you're trying to do doesn't exist and it doesn't exist for a reason.
I second guess myself and some people really find.
That being challenged can make feel light a fire under their bum, but for me it doesn't. I like to be surrounded by yes, people, people who are optimistic that really energizes me. And so I think it's recognizing how you respond to the people around you and around yourself with those who make you feel like the best version of yourself. So in terms of finding confidence, I think that's been really important for me. And and then I guess in business.
That means mentors having mentors and women's groups that you can turn to that you know you you're not afraid to ask questions. I've I've my whole life sort of approach different women in different businesses where I feel like I need help and I don't know what to do. I've really leverage the contacts that I have and to.

Jewel Radford (Guest)   34:54
Like when I general one time.

Julianne (Guest)   34:56
Ask the questions. You know that I.

Jewel Radford (Guest)   34:59
This is that is one thing.

Julianne (Guest)   35:00
That I don't know the answers to, so I think I think that's a really important part of of building up your confidence and.

Jewel Radford (Guest)   35:01
The management.

Julianne (Guest)   35:08
Umm. And and that positive self talk that you have everyday with yourself?

McMartin, Chris   35:15
I love that. I love the distinction between know what you need and knowing what works for you, because what works for you might not be what works for others. So I I think that's important. So thank you for sharing that it. If you could go back. Julianne, you've been doing this now for a long time and and you're such a respected professional and your business brand is, is built and you've had so much success. But if you could go back to when you were first starting, did you give yourself particular advice or tell yourself to do something differently?

Julianne (Guest)   35:48
Umm, I think that I would tell myself to just keep my horse blinders on. That something that I've learned more recently to not compare myself to others because the niche of the fashion industry I'm in.
When you know when I got started in the the fashion and styling industry, what I'm doing now didn't exist and I still feel like I don't have many people that I can turn to to ask questions. I'm just navigating this industry on my own.

Julianne (Guest)   36:23
But I think it's very easy to get caught up with comparing yourself to other people or people you think are doing things better than you, but it all goes back to this. What we what we've already discussed, which is I think.

Julianne (Guest)   36:38
You know, if you know your purpose and your mission as a company, and you and I think that's a really important thing to establish so that you always have direction.
Then keep your horse blinders on and and focus and and you'll get there, and you and you can't compare yourself to those that are maybe doing something a little bit different from you. They might appear like they're really successful, but who knows, you know, and that's that's the facade of a person of a brand and.

Julianne (Guest)   37:06
And you know confidence and so, you know, I think yeah, putting my horse blinders on and just staying focused is really what I would tell myself. And it's something I continually work on today. It's very easy to get distracted. And today as well, but.
Yeah.

McMartin, Chris   37:23
Absolutely no. I think that's great advice. And you you mentioned having this amazing support system and having all your cheerleaders and having this great network that you've built.
My question would be do do you do check-ins? Do you ever? Is there a way that you check in if your brand is still on point? Is there a way that you check in if you maybe need to? Do you know some some refresh is there? Is there a way that you do that?

Julianne (Guest)   37:50
That's a good question.

Julianne (Guest)   37:53
I think women have a great gut feeling and I think you know when your gut, when you're getting off.

Julianne (Guest)   38:00
Off course and This is why I I've always felt that being mission driven and having a purpose is really, really important so that you can kind of always stay on the right path and when you feel that you're getting off chat off, off track, you can say, you know, is this getting, is this, you know strategically is this getting me to the end goal or is it just a distraction? And often your community will tell you whether they tell you.
You know, up front through a comment or a e-mail or you know, if you if you're not seeing as much engagement, whether that's like a you know you're not having as many inquiries or you're, you know, comments on Instagram or off, it could be because you're community is telling you that.
You know you're not.
You're not who you say you are anymore because you've maybe gotten distracted, so I really rely on my community and and and my team. I think my team is such an important part of having.

Julianne (Guest)   39:03
You know, they keep us all in line. We all have to make sure that, you know, at the end of the day this is aligned with our values and those those values align with our purpose and our mission. And if that all is connected, then it feels good then then I think you know you're staying focused. Otherwise, yeah, I mean that's how we check in. I guess I would say.

McMartin, Chris   39:23
I love that. I love that. That's great. That's great. Well, I I have one more question for you, but then I'm just giving the warning. I'm gonna open it up, so if anyone has questions after I post this last question to Julianne, if you wanna come off mute, you're welcome to do so. You can put up your virtual hands or if you feel more comfortable, you're welcome to put your questions in the chat and I'll make sure that we asked Julianne and Julianne is also offered that if there is more questions afterwards that she didn't get to.

Julianne (Guest)   39:24
Umm.

McMartin, Chris   39:54
Should be happy to answer them in an e-mail afterwards, so feel free to put any questions you have in the chat or like I said, if you want to come off mute, feel free to put your hand up and we'll go through those. But my final question, Julianne to you would be if you weren't gonna do this if this wasn't gonna be your path, was there another path that was there, a Plan B? Was there something else when you were younger that this is maybe a second thought?

Julianne (Guest)   40:22
You know what, I.
Fashion was always it for me.

McMartin, Chris   40:27
Because.

Julianne (Guest)   40:27
For because I felt.

Julianne (Guest)   40:31
I don't. I felt that it was.
I don't know what I.

Julianne (Guest)   40:39
The thing that I was able to do well and succeeded with with and and I naturally helped.

Julianne (Guest)   40:47
People from a young age figure out what to wear or help them shop.
And I had people around me who told me it was all possible. So to me, I never sort of thought. What if, because I had this, you know?
The community of cheerleaders who really made me believe it was possible. However, the funny, the funny answer, the more is that.

Julianne (Guest)   41:13
I never got to be a cashier. I was always a salesperson and I was one of those kids who loved a cash register from a very young age. So.

McMartin, Chris   41:24
Yes.

Julianne (Guest)   41:25
I think when I'm done here with styling and you know I'm retired maybe and living up north in a small town on at my cottage, I'll maybe be a cashier at.
And you're right. That's my. That's my second career. But for now, I'm happy with what I'm doing. And truthfully, I've never thought about doing anything else. I felt very cold to be here helping women and and empowering them through their clothing.

McMartin, Chris   41:40
Love that.

McMartin, Chris   41:53
I love that. Thank you for sharing that. And I, I love your uh, your very down to Earth answer. I think that's great. I think that's great. We have a question from the chat. You mentioned that you're wearing different things while pregnant, but how do you adapt your wardrobe while your body is going through changes and still feeling good?

Julianne (Guest)   42:13
I think for me, I am no longer feeling great and a blazer as much blazer has to have a lot of stretch it. It feels more challenging to me. So right now I'm leaning into dresses.
Because also we're not cats and pants are uncomfortable for me. So I think the same goes for any woman who's experiencing change in their body, pregnancy or not pregnancy, to recognize what they feel good in. And that's how it's it's all feeling when you feel good.
You you stand taller, you, you know. So I think get out of the clothes that are making you feel bad. You may have never. You may have been a pant person your whole life and you never like dresses. But if pants are no longer making you feel good, do you have a phone number for a period of time? Try a new silhouette. That's often what we do with clients is really just help them try on new things. When we walk into closets of our clients for the first time we see.
10 crew neck sweaters 10 like everything is there's just versions of the same thing, and that's probably what this person is experiencing. Yet their life has changed. They've taken on new roles, they've their body has changed. So don't kind of write off dresses because ten years ago you never liked them. Try them now and and and also look whether women who have similar body types to you and what they're wearing. And we think they look great and I find for me what are my searching.

Julianne (Guest)   43:49
And just right now, all the time, Privacy, St. style. And then I look and I say ohh that person has a similar body type to me. I think they look really great. I'm gonna try that on. I wouldn't have worn it last year but it looks great on her. I'm gonna try something similar and then all of a sudden I'm wearing new clothes but yet I'm getting the same feeling that I used to feel in a completely different uniform.

McMartin, Chris   44:13
I love that and I think it's applicable not just to pregnancy as anyone that's going through any sort of changes or, you know, losing weight, gaining weight, you know, whatever it might be. So I think that's that's great advice. We've got another comment in the chat. My daughter wants to be a stylist. What educational path would you recommend her pursuing and are there internships in the industry that you would recommend?

Julianne (Guest)   44:17
Yeah.
Yes.

Julianne (Guest)   44:38
Absolutely. So I went all in Toronto for fashion communications. I studied abroad in England and in Paris, and I did a number of internships all through my university and.

Julianne (Guest)   44:54
And I think that my best and biggest education came from those internships where I was able to work inside of businesses that, you know, at that age. And with that experience, I may not have been able to. And that's the beautiful thing about an internship is the relationships you made there. And when you learn and get to see. And so I think I highly encourage the education part because it helps you.
Get access to those internships and that's really how I would describe my past and how I got into this industry. And those internships led to.
Relationships that landed me a job in 3rd year university that then became my career immediately after. So I have struggled with not having work because.
Those internships allowed me to establish that from a very early age. So yeah, I I think I encourage education and internships left, right and center, and we take on interns every season. So you know, it's got something that your daughter is interested in. She can reach out through the contact page and we're always happy to chat. And at the very least, mentor. I have a conversation with her.

McMartin, Chris   46:15
I'm sorry. Can you tell can you say again, Julianne the uh, the course name that you took in school with your education.

Julianne (Guest)   46:22
Yes. So I went to Ryerson, which is now the Toronto Metropolitan University. It really.

Julianne (Guest)   46:29
And four fashion communications.

McMartin, Chris   46:32
Passing communications. Thank you. Thank you.

Julianne (Guest)   46:35
Yeah, and it's a wonderful program. I can't say enough about it.

McMartin, Chris   46:40
Excellent, excellent. Thank you for sharing that. Uh, another question that we have for corporate style or businesswoman presence, what are basic pieces that we should have in our closet?

Julianne (Guest)   46:54
So I think the blazer for sure.
And a great white blouse, similar to a blazer. I really think a white blouse can take you anywhere. So if you get hot, you wanna take that blazer off? That white shirt is still very much a respectable corporate piece. So there's a number of brands that do different white shirts. You know, there's someone who is larger, tested and struggles with button downs. There's lots of alternative options. Don't have buttons. We're also lots of brands to do buttons for their digestive women that sort of.

Julianne (Guest)   47:29
We work with women all the time who struggled with that.
A great pair of trousers, so probably a black pant or a Navy pant that would maybe match the blazer so you can wear it together. But you can wear it separately.
And a great denim, I think now more than ever denim is accepted, especially post pandemic even in the corporate world. So having a great denim can be great. A really useful piece that also goes work to weekend. And then I I love and then address and a skirt and if you have all those pieces you really have a capsule wardrobe maybe add a sweater in there, a pair of flats and a heel and that's a capsule wardrobe. And those pieces can be mixed and matched and worn.
And in so many different ways, as long as you buy all of them within a certain color palette, and that's the key to capsule wardrobe. So maybe choosing one color and two neutrals and mixing in a pattern in there that has those. And that's really if you look at a capsule wardrobe, that's what you'll see and why it's so easy to wear all those pieces and and multiple different ways.

McMartin, Chris   48:22
Umm.
We're looking to add that one color like you suggested, is there a certain color like so do you go by the color of the season, the color that's in style? Do you go by the color that looks best on you do? What would you recommend? How do you choose that one color that you're gonna start to base your your wardrobe on?

Julianne (Guest)   49:00
I definitely look.

Julianne (Guest)   49:01
Umm I I look at things from a seasonal perspective because our seasons do change. I think if you know now, you're gonna introduce a color, definitely look to us spring summer type color versus a fall winter right now, lilac.
And sort of that lime green and then mediva magenta is the color of the year. Those are three beautiful colors that people are really attracted to. And that's one thing actually took a lot of with our clients is the power of color in a wardrobe and how you can really you can deliver some challenging.

McMartin, Chris   49:39
No.

Julianne (Guest)   49:44
Uh material. But if you're wearing color, it can sometimes be received a little bit better. So I mean into color on days when I have to have those, those tough conversations.
But yeah, those are three colors I think for for spring summer that I would recommend. But for me a version of red is always sort of my go to color. I wear red nails I love.

Julianne (Guest)   50:09
Alright, pleaser red always feels timeless and something that works well, especially for the corporate woman with Navy, with black. So that's a safe color to me. And I think there's a very there's a shade of red for everyone.

McMartin, Chris   50:24
I love that you have any suggestions on how you find your shade like is. Is there any of those? I you know, we've all seen the color matching the whole the Skype up to your face the like do you have any suggestions on how to find your best one?

Julianne (Guest)   50:40
So you know, color matching is definitely something that historically has been used. I don't use that. I find it a little bit archaic. I think, you know I it it can work and it's probably the easiest thing to do, but I don't always feel like it's the most modern way to do things, because then it also makes you believe that you can't wear certain colors. And I don't believe in that. So that's why I don't really do that and but.

McMartin, Chris   51:07
OK.

Julianne (Guest)   51:09
I think the best thing to do is, you know, if you don't know yourself again, go to Pinterest, find someone who has a similar skin tone, hair color and then type in that persons name. Probably a celebrity and the color red and St. style and see what shades of red they wear and that should give you the confidence to feel like you can go out and shop that color and feel like it will probably look great on you.

Julianne (Guest)   51:36
Umm, there's so like Pinterest to me is like the easiest way to really find your style and.
In a in the easiest and best, most efficient way so.

McMartin, Chris   51:48
I I love it. I'm someone who uses Pinterest all the time, but you've given me some actual, tangible tools on how to use it better. So I love that. I love that we've got another question in the chat. Do you have any tips on maintaining your garments? Professional cleaning can be costly, especially when it can be cheaper to purchase in some cases with certain brands rather than paying for for for professional cleaning.

Julianne (Guest)   51:57
Yeah.
Yes. So actually a lot of things can be washed in cold and hung to dry.
And so.

Julianne (Guest)   52:26
If you have experience or you feel like you can, you know, maybe I always encourage that. And usually you can like.
Write in Google the the piece that you're wanting to wash and dry. And here look at reviews of what people have done with that actual piece. The Internet is an incredible resource.

McMartin, Chris   52:45
Yeah.

Julianne (Guest)   52:46
Google and type in the actual details like Aritzia, Montpellier, sweater wash and see what comes up. But a lot of things that people don't know is that you know fabrics are actually only meant to to last about 25 lashes or dry cleans. So don't think that you need to dry clean or wash something every time you wear it.
And you know, just do that when it stained or it's starting to have an odor. So I really minimize how much I clean something.
And then also there are a number of products, one of which I've turned to a lot is the laundress, which is a company, it's a luxury.
Umm, cleaning product brand and it's actually two women who started it, who went to school.
For textile they they learned about textile that was their degree and what they and then they worked at luxury companies like Dior and Chanel, and they saw how much money these brands were spending on dry cleaning. So they went and created a product to be able to clean those those pieces. So they have some really incredible products that we use and have been really successful for us. So if you're willing to, you know, watch it yourself.

McMartin, Chris   54:00
Wow.

Julianne (Guest)   54:07
Versus do the dry cleaning option. That's a brand that we generally recommend.

McMartin, Chris   54:14
Fantastic. That's very helpful. That's very helpful. Anyone else have questions or comments or want to add something in the chat before we say our thank yous and goodbyes to Julianne.
All right. Well, we're going to leave it at that. But if anything comes up, like I said, Julianne has offered to answer any follow up questions. Please make sure you check the chat before you leave us, because there's some amazing resources. So all of julianne's are contact information. Her LinkedIn, her website. It's all there for you, so please make sure you stay connected. Please, go check out her site as well as julianna's been kind enough to offer a style guide for all those who came. And.

McMartin, Chris   54:59
And attended with us today. So that's also the links available there. But we will send it out to you by e-mail if you registered for today. So just in case you you misplaced the link, but thank you everyone for attending. Thank you for taking time out of your day to come and chat with us and Julianne from the Scotiabank Women Initiative. I can't thank you enough for your time and for joining us today to talk about your brand and how we can build ours.

Julianne (Guest)   55:25
Thank you for having me. It's been so great to chat with you and I can't wait to hopefully connect with anyone who has questions afterwards.

McMartin, Chris   55:34
Perfect. Thank you so much. And I hope the rest of you have an excellent rest of your day.